At the Paris Olympics, Katie Ledecky has added two gold medals to bring her career Olympic gold medal haul to nine. Here’s the swimming stroke that’s helped her.
You could call it a stroke of swimming genius. U.S. Olympian Katie Ledecky has galloped away with two more gold medals in the 800 meter and 1500 meter women’s freestyle swimming events at the 2024 Paris Olympics. This brought her career total gold medal haul to a whopping nine. And part of the reason for her success—with an emphasis on the word “part”—has been her freestyle stroke: nicknamed the “syncopated gallop” or the “giddy-up” stroke.
Now, when you hear the words “gallop” and “giddy-up” you may think more of equestrian events. But in this case, the gallop refers to the fact that Ledecky takes longer strokes with her right arm and shorter strokes with her left arm. This is basically what you do with your legs when you or a horse gallops, taking shorter steps with one leg and longer steps with another.
During each cycle, her left arm also drags more, staying on top of the water for a longer duration than her right arm. This motion means that Ledecky always takes in a breath when her head is tilted to the right, which she does every two strokes. It’s called “syncopated” because this uneven motion needs to be carefully coordinated.
Contrast this to the strokes that most other swimmers, especially recreational ones, use. These typical strokes are more like metronomes as if they were moving to equal regular beats. They involve taking even and equal length strokes on both sides, going right-left, right-left, right-left, and so forth in a even manner.
Ledecky reportedly changed to this gallop in 2011 after her coach at the time Yuri Suguiyama had watched film of Michael Phelps, who was also kind of good at swimming.
